This invention relates to improvements in portable space heaters and components thereof which simplify their assembly, improve their operation, efficiency and safety in use and render them easier to service and maintain. Its features are most advantageous in application to oil burning space heaters and will be described in this context. However, this is only for purpose of illustration and not by way of limitation, either as to their application or the form of their embodiment.
The invention embodiments are characterized by one or more of the following features:
a. A construction providing them with an improved pattern of air flow which, for a given size heater, significantly increases its heating capacity and thermal output; PA1 b. An improved integral control system and placement thereof relative to the heater air flow which minimizes the possibility of electrical component and system failures due to contamination or vibration; PA1 c. An isolation of the integrated control system from the heat of combustion and the insulation thereof by the coolest portion of the air flow through the heater; PA1 d. A very simply and economically fabricated two part shell providing a heater housing the configuration and placement of which with respect to its combustion chamber assembly not only contributes to a much improved performance but a construction of a heater enabling the assembly of its parts without need for intervening gaskets; PA1 e. A heater construction which is uncluttered providing easy access to all of its parts, which can be serviced, maintained and safely operated by unskilled persons; PA1 f. A heater the construction and arrangement of which enables a quicker, more uniform and wider spread of its developed heat than heretofore possible.
The features of the present invention enable a portable oil burning space heater which as compared to the prior art is, for its size, more effective in its operation and more reliable and safer in use. At the same time an embodiment of the invention provides a heater which is easy to service and maintain by relatively inexperienced and unskilled persons, thereby giving the heater a longer and more satisfactory operating life.
All the foregoing are answers to needs and problems which have been evidenced in the manufacture and use of prior art heaters.
The inventors are not aware of any prior art which is specifically pertinent to the particular features of construction which represent the improvements of the present invention. However, for the most pertinent prior art as to the basic composition of a heater of the type to which the invention is applied, reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,642 and 4,313,417.